Don't Try the Wine at Long Beach Playhouse's ARSENIC AND OLD LACE

In 1941, Joseph Kesselring offered this sage advice: If you are a lonely, elderly gentleman steer clear of the old Victorian rooming house that Abby and Martha Brewster run - it may be your last room on Earth!

For 76 years, Kesselring's play, Arsenic and Old Lace, has enchanted audiences with its two sweet old sisters who occasionally feel the need to release a worthy roomer of his lonely suffering with a sip of their homemade Elderberry wine. Added to their misguided mayhem are a lovesick nephew, his disfigured and dangerously insane brother, and the sisters' delusional charge who believes he's Teddy Roosevelt.

"The Long Beach Playhouse first produced this show in 1943. The goal was to raise the spirits of a town deeply affected by World War II," said Sean Gray, the organization's Artistic Director. "Although we're not in the middle of a world war it still seemed like a good time to offer some lighthearted but twisted fun to our patrons."

"I enjoy the irony that a play about two little old ladies is now 76 years old - the play itself is a little old lady," said Madison Mooney, Playhouse Executive Director. "There's a symmetry to it; the notion that some things are timeless, that murder and mayhem, when presented well, can be funny whether it's 1941 or 2017."

JefF Brown is the show's director. He's a 40 year theatre veteran with experience in all aspects of theater. Previous Playhouse shows include Mousetrap and A Christmas Carol. The sisters are played by Harriet Whitmyer and Yvonne Robertson. Both are veteran actresses who've spent years entertaining audiences in theaters throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Whitmyer was last seen in last year's Studio production of Sweeny Todd as Mrs. LovetT. Robertson was the befuddled wife in last year's Mainstage production of Don't Dress for Dinner.

Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, CA, 90804, right across from the Long Beach Recreation golf course. The Playhouse is community-supported theatre with programs and events that cut across age, gender, ethnic, and cultural boundaries.

Performances are 8 p.m. Friday, and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. The box office is open Wednesday-Saturday from 3:00-8:00 pm and Sundays from 1:00-2:00 pm on scheduled matinees.